||
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                    ||                       How beautiful on the mountains
                    ||                       are the feet of those ... who
                    ||                       proclaim salvation, who say to
                                             Zion, "Your God reigns!"
          Pastor RALPH & GENE ANN WOOD                  --Isaiah 52:7 (NIV)
          E-mail:  randg.wood@encode.com
          FRESH MANNA, 20/06/1997, 20/02/1998 ............. 2 TIMOTHY 2:15b
             Be diligent to present yourself to God, "approved":-- a worker
          who has no need to be ashamed, cutting straight the word of truth.
                                                     --2 TIMOTHY 2:15 (RLW)
             This seems to be based on ROMANS 12:1-8.  There, the apostle
          Paul exhorts all Christians to "present your bodies a living
          sacrifice, holy, well-pleasing [/acceptable] to God".  He then
          gives directions for doing this, in using seven spiritual gifts
          to serve God, and the Church.  Here, Paul encourages Timothy, the
          pastor-teacher of the church in Ephesus-- and by association, all
          pastors and teachers-- to "present yourself to God, `approved'".
          Paul then shows him how to do this, in using one gift, teaching,
          to serve God and the Church.
             "Present yourself", in this verse, seems to mean both, "offer
          yourself as a sacrifice", and "present yourself for service".
          First, you offer yourself to God as a sacrifice [ROMANS 12:1-2];
          then you put yourself at His disposal for service [LUKE 9:23-25].
             But when do we do this?  When we are "approved".  That is,
          when we pass quality control, have been tested and found genuine,
          tried and true.  Often in the Bible, this means, "tested in the
          furnace of affliction, refined by chastening" [e.g., PSALM 66:10,
          JAMES 1:12].  But here, it means, "tested in practical service,
          and found to be faithful", as it does also in ROMANS 16:10.
             That is, if you are to present yourself to be a pastor and
          teacher, first prove faithful in more basic work in the Church.
          Then present yourself to God as, "approved".  In the context, and
          in keeping with other Scriptures [e.g. 2 CORINTHIANS 10:18], this
          would mean, "approved by God".  However, it would be the Church's
          task to identify, recognize and affirm that approval.  Yet, this
          isn't just a one-time thing, a graduation ceremony.  For now that
          Timothy has taken up his duties as a pastor and teacher, he is to
          present himself "approved" in a continuous ongoing process, as he
          keeps on earnestly "cutting straight the word of truth".
             So, whether we are teachers or not, let all of us be diligent
          to present ourselves to God, as "approved", for whatever service
          He is yet going to call us to do!  And as leaders in the Church,
          let us be diligent in looking for this kind of person to do the
          ongoing work of the Lord!  Praise Him!   --RLW
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